Edward Lucas White (1866–1934)

Since there are no other eligible candidates, Brinnaria agrees, albeit unwillingly, to serve as a Vestal Virgin for the next 30 years and the novel is the story of her time in office.

The author doesn't seem to have quite got the hang of writing historical fiction and often addresses the reader directly to explain social and cultural matters by comparison to early 20th century equivalents. This bumps the reader out of the story quite a bit.

The romantic element is also rather disconcerting. show more Brinnaria is 9 when the story opens but is apparently mature enough mentally and physically to pass for 18 and she already has a love interest, Almo, who agrees to wait for her which he does but not very patiently. Quite honestly, in the end the ordeal by sieve seems the most natural and reasonable incident in the book.

Having said, all that if one can suspend belief enough, the book is actually very readable and enjoyable. I'm not sure how many stars to give it as complete nonsense but an enjoyable read. show less

An old-fashioned, but effectively creepy tale. A group of anthropologists in search of unknown tribes in 'deepest, darkest' Africa unexpectedly encounters an old colleague - who has fallen victim to a grotesque curse.

Fairly certain I'd read this one before, long ago.

'Shawn' wrote, in a conversation about this story: "White seems, in fact, to be deliberately vague about the source of the curse. In Stone’s final conversation he asks one of the minnikins, “Has she forgiven me?” The show more response: “ ‘Not while the moss hangs from the cypresses,’ the head squeaked. ‘Not while the stars shine on Lake Pontchartrain will she forgive.’ ” It’s difficult to see how this reply relates in any way to the fetish-man. It seems instead to hint that the origin of the curse harks back to States and is somehow tied to the romantic entanglements described at length earlier in the story."

I would have to agree. The victim, Stone, also specifies that the curse was not laid on him from 'without,' but that it emanates from within his bones, which is why he has no hope of it being lifted. The poison that has ruined his life is within, part of his character, and he has taken that poison, and the knowledge of the people he has wronged and the ill deeds he has done, to Africa with him. Yes, his evil 'demons' manifest in a way that is "appropriate" to the setting, but I don't think that the reader is supposed to believe that a native shaman is responsible. Although certainly the story references and owes much to the genre involving fear of "primitive witchcraft," it's more about how people are unable to escape their own natures. show less

An old-fashioned, but effectively creepy tale. A group of anthropologists in search of unknown tribes in 'deepest, darkest' Africa unexpectedly encounters an old colleague - who has fallen victim to a grotesque curse.

Fairly certain I'd read this one before, long ago.

'Shawn' wrote, in a conversation about this story: "White seems, in fact, to be deliberately vague about the source of the curse. In Stone’s final conversation he asks one of the minnikins, “Has she forgiven me?” The show more response: “ ‘Not while the moss hangs from the cypresses,’ the head squeaked. ‘Not while the stars shine on Lake Pontchartrain will she forgive.’ ” It’s difficult to see how this reply relates in any way to the fetish-man. It seems instead to hint that the origin of the curse harks back to States and is somehow tied to the romantic entanglements described at length earlier in the story."

I would have to agree. The victim, Stone, also specifies that the curse was not laid on him from 'without,' but that it emanates from within his bones, which is why he has no hope of it being lifted. The poison that has ruined his life is within, part of his character, and he has taken that poison, and the knowledge of the people he has wronged and the ill deeds he has done, to Africa with him. Yes, his evil 'demons' manifest in a way that is "appropriate" to the setting, but I don't think that the reader is supposed to believe that a native shaman is responsible. Although certainly the story references and owes much to the genre involving fear of "primitive witchcraft," it's more about how people are unable to escape their own natures. show less

Andivius Hedulio is falsely denounced to the Emperor Commodius as a conspirator and has to go into hiding in various disguises.

Books could take a more leisurely pace in 1920 and although not without incident this book takes full advantage of that leisurely pace to look at Roman society as people then thought it was probably like. It's rather less brutal and sex-drenched than the picture we are given today. The picture of Commodius is also rather more sympathetic than we are given elsewhere show more as well. A very enjoyable adventure story. show less